Optical navigation systems operate to estimate movements on target surfaces to perform tracking operations. An optical navigation system uses a light source, such as a light-emitting diode (LED) or a laser diode, to illuminate a region of a target surface and an image sensor to receive the light reflected from the target surface to successively capture frames of image data of the target surface. The optical navigation system compares the successive image frames and estimates the relative movements based on the comparison between the current image frame and a previous image frame. The comparison is based on detecting and computing displacements of features in the captured frames of image data.
Optical navigation systems are commonly used in optical computer mice to track the movements of the mice relative to the surfaces on which the mice are manually manipulated. The movements of a computer mouse are used to control a cursor on a monitor of a computer system. The accuracy of an optical computer mouse with respect to the positioning of the cursor mostly depends on the resolution of the mouse. Higher resolution means that a user can move the cursor faster to specific locations on the monitor with the slightest nudge.
A concern with a conventional optical computer mouse is that a user may find difficulties in controlling the motion of a cursor using the optical computer mouse, especially when the optical computer mouse is set at a high resolution. This is because at higher resolutions, the user will experience greater sensitivity with respect to the movements of the cursor. At such a setting, the user may find that the cursor movements are harder to control at lower speeds using the optical computer mouse.
Thus, there is a need for an optical navigation system that can be used in an optical computer mouse, which allows a user to more easily control a computer cursor at various speeds, even at low speeds.